Wandering
by Ina-chan
Summary: One's wandering, always comes full circle. A prodigal child leaves, looses its path, searches, and eventually found.
1. Part 1: Lost...

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to Yume comics.   
This fic is done only for the glorification of Furuba!  
  
July 25, 2002  
Wandering  
Part 1: Lost…  
By Ina-chan  
  
The summer breeze ruffled gently through her hair. She always had affection for   
summer. She used to enjoy the leisurely walk through these woods. If it were another   
time, she would be walking side by side with him.  
  
But that was another time… long, long ago. The truth is, now, she shouldn't be   
here in the first place. She was supposed to stay away. That was the contract she agreed   
on ten years ago.   
  
Her freedom…   
  
  
/"You can go anywhere… anyplace you want. Do anything you want. Study in   
college. Won't your MOTHER be proud of that?"/  
  
  
Her memories…   
  
  
/"I even won't ask your memory to be erased. That will be my gift."/  
  
  
Their happiness…   
  
  
/"Do you think you're making things better by staying around them? You're   
simply giving them false hope. The more they are attached to you, inevitably, at the end,   
the more you will end up hurting them."/  
  
  
  
In exchange…  
  
  
/"So before that happens, why don't you take the initiative and…/  
  
  
For just one simple thing…   
  
  
/…go away."/  
  
  
She closed her eyes and instinctively wrapped her arms around herself as she   
braced against the chill that automatically ran down her spine when those memories   
plagued her. Then silently scolded herself.   
  
That was a long time ago, she was still a naïve child then. She's older now with a   
ten years' worth of confident experience. She left that life behind the moment she agreed   
to that contract with the devil. And now… specially now… it was useless. She was no   
longer bound to him. With that, she let out a defeated sigh and smiled upon realizing the   
irony.  
  
She's definitely changed from when she was seventeen. Back then, she would   
have been mortified to death at the idea of herself thinking disrespectfully of someone,   
specially if that someone had already died. Her younger self would definitely not break   
the promise she made. The truth is, she almost didn't. Even though some time had   
already passed since that person had died. Despite of what she felt in her heart, she still   
never mustered enough courage to defy that promise. It took ten years and of all the   
reasons… a stupid business trip… to get her to set foot back in Japan.  
  
Back then, her naïve younger self didn't believe that all the misfortunes felt by   
those who came before her would actually happen to her. She innocently had complete   
faith in the goodness of people around her, despite cruel appearances. She didn't realize,   
until too late, that she wasn't immune. That she too was vulnerable to feel inexplicable   
fear… and pain.  
  
"Wondervoll! They seem to be growing very well!"  
  
The cheerful voice followed by a hearty rumble of laughter nudged her out of her   
reverie. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized exactly where she was. His voice had   
changed now. It was much more deeper, definitely more adult. But deep in her heart, she   
knew there was no mistaking it.   
  
"Momiji-kun…" She whispered inaudibly, closing her eyes at the pleasant warm   
rush of her memories.   
  
Though she did venture into this territory out of the need to satisfy her nostalgic   
hunger, she didn't intend to wander close enough to run into any of them. Of course,   
Momiji-kun was the last person she expected here. Part of herself wanted to break   
through the bushes and give the young man a surprising hug, just like the number of   
times he himself had done to her when they were younger. But the stronger illogical part   
of herself screamed in horror, begging her to turn tail and run before it was too late. Just   
as she was about to follow the latter, she heard it… Though it too sounded deeper and   
more adult, it still had that soft yet attention-grabbing quality to it… his voice.  
  
  
"The strawberries would be ready soon… I think."  
  
  
She felt her heart stop as she held her breath, afraid to make a sound… As if   
hypnotized by the sound of that voice, she slowly took a few silent steps forward and   
tried to peek through the shrubbery and bushes. Momiji was standing by him, his back to   
her, admiring the fruits of his cousin's labour. He had grown so tall that he almost   
covered everything from her sight. She dared to take a few more steps, inching to steal a   
view of what she so desperately wanted to see. Then angrily wiped the river that started   
to flood her eyes just as she finally caught sight of him.  
  
It was a sight that she has seen many times before in the past. He was kneeling   
and lovingly tending to the patches of vegetation of their secret base. Had it not for the   
sharper and older angles on his face, it would almost seem as if time had stopped for him.   
He looked just as beautiful as he had been when they were seventeen. A frown of   
concerned lined on her forehead at the realization that he looked somewhat thinner and   
paler than she remembered. She craned her neck and took another step to get a better   
view, when her foot slipped on a hidden rock, and the next thing she knew she tumbled   
clumsily on the ground in an undignified heap. She silently swore under her breath as she   
quickly got on her knees to brush the dirt and grass that clung to her clothes.  
  
"Who's there?"   
  
She froze and held her breath, willing that neither men would come to investigate   
where she was… willing herself to magically disappear. But things in her life rarely went   
the way anyway. Before she knew it, she found herself staring at a very surprised brown   
pair of eyes.  
  
"To…ru?" Momiji said aloud in surprise  
  
What else could a person caught red-handed do other than say…  
  
"I'm sorry!"   
  
… and run like the wind.  
  
She flew through the woods as fast as her feet could carry her, ignoring the twigs   
and clumps of vegetation that scratched the exposed skin of her limbs and her face.   
Silently praying that neither men would attempt to pursue her.   
  
"To-ru!! TO-RU!!  
  
However, it is instinct after all, to pursue persistently something that's beyond   
your reach.  
  
"TO-RU!! WAIT!! PLEASE!!"  
  
And Souma Momiji was known for his damned persistence.  
  
"TO-RU!" He called one last time as she felt his hand latch onto her wrist.  
  
"Imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry!!!!" She blurted out loud   
uncontrollably.   
  
If it were another time, both of them would have probably burst out laughing at   
the absurdity of the situation.   
  
"To-ru? What's wrong? It's just me!"  
  
If it were another time, hysterical tears wouldn't be running down her face.  
  
"I'm sorry Momiji-kun! Please let go. I have to go. I'm not supposed to be here!"  
  
If it were another time, she wouldn't feel so afraid…  
  
"TO-RU!" He sounded frightened as well. He sounded desperate to reach through   
her hysteria as he grasped her by the shoulders and shook her firmly.  
  
She stopped as she saw his own tears threatening to spill out from his eyes. She   
bowed down her head in shame and lightly rested her forehead on his chest, "I'm sorry   
Momiji-kun. I'm so sorry."   
  
"Then please… please don't run away anymore," Momiji whispered over her   
head, "Please don't go away again… at least for now."  
  
"All right, I promise," She whispered back, a sense of relief washing over her as   
she continued to let him loosely hold her as he did many times before, "I promise that I   
won't."  
  
"Momiji?" Another voice called out from the near distance  
  
Momiji instantly straightened up, almost causing her to loose balance and fall into   
him, "Verdammt, I almost forgot!"   
  
She looked at him, a little confused at sudden change in demeanour. She turned   
around and saw HIM. He was standing a short distance away, as if afraid to intrude. He   
was just as she remembered him, standing shyly with that nervous pose of his, slightly   
leaning to one side with one arm crossed over the other. He looked almost exactly the   
same but…  
  
"It's okay Yuki, it's only To-ru!" Momiji called out reassuringly  
  
…but…  
  
"I'm sorry…" she began nervously  
  
…but somehow, she must have had a feeling then and there that there was   
something different…  
  
"I'm sorry I ran away," she continued, wiping the wet corners of her eyes with her   
fingers  
  
…something in the way that Momiji suddenly put a hand on her shoulder and   
gave her a comforting squeeze as if to steady her…  
  
"I'm… sorry… too," He echoed uncertainly as his expressive grey eyes seemed to   
search hers   
  
…something in the way that he looked at her.  
  
"Momiji?" Yuki turned to his cousin as if to ask for assistance, "Is she someone   
we know?"  
  
If it were another time…  
  
~To be continued on Part 2: Searching~  
  
  
Author's squawk:  
  
Waaaaa! I can't believe I actually finished this chapter in one sitting! ^_^. Anywayz,   
inspiration has once again hit Ina-chan. I normally don't do continuation fics, but I've   
been playing with this "what if scenario" since I wrote "Defying Heaven" but I just never   
figured out what to do with it until the latest developments starting from chapter 58   
inspired me! I don't think its very original, since I've read several fics playing with the   
similar idea with Tooru in Yuki's position.   
  
But this one's short and sweet. This is going to be another 3-parter like "Defying   
Heaven". Don't worry, its already finished in my head. It's just a matter of getting   
enough concentration to sit down and curb my poor attention span to type it out.   
Hopefully, you guys will find it just as interesting! ^_^. Well… its 1:30 AM and I gotta   
go to work in the morning! ^_^.  
  
Ja!  
  
Ina-chan 


	2. Part2: ...searching...

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to Yume comics. This fic is done only for the glorification of Furuba!  
  
July 26, 2002  
Wandering  
Part 2: ...searching...  
By Ina-chan  
  
  
At first, she thought it would be strange. However, she was proven wrong the moment she stepped inside Shigure's house. It almost felt like stepping into a pair of old, neglected, but comfortable slippers. It was familiar, but at the same time, it still needed some getting used to again. She couldn't help but gape in surprise at her surroundings. It's not that he doubted them... It's just that from how she remembered the inhabitants of the house... well... everything just looked so... clean.  
  
"A housekeeper from the main house comes every day for a few hours to help cook and clean," Momiji remarked from across the low table, reading her thoughts from the expression on her face, before giving a teasing side-long glance at his silent cousin, "otherwise, between Yuki and Shi-chan, the house wouldn't last a week!"  
  
His cousin only replied with reverent silence, eyes closed, and hands folded solemnly on his lap. Though she couldn't help but notice the slight twitching on the mouse's right eyebrow.   
  
She laughed, despite of herself. "Yuki-kun still hasn't changed, has he?"  
  
Like everything about him, it was subtle. But she saw it nonetheless. The way his eyes slightly opened as if suddenly caught off guard, the way the muscles on his jaw slightly clenched, and the way his hands suddenly tightened into fists before relaxing into a somewhat defeated stance. Without warning, he rose to his feet, nearly banging his shin to the hard table edge.  
  
"Yuki... kun?"  
  
"I'm tired, I think I'll go and lie down for a bit."   
  
She watched him wordlessly cross the room and disappear into the hallway, a ball lodged painfully in her throat. Reverting to the old playful relationship she had with Momiji was effortless. Yuki, in the other hand... He acted like a completely different person. The words he uttered earlier disconcerted her. Yet at the same time, she felt like a schoolgirl again, feeling utterly self-conscious in the presence of her high school prince. The walk back to Shigure's   
house was awkward, despite Momiji's cheerful attempts. At the same time, Momiji was unwilling to give any hint of explanation for his cousin's odd behaviour. She anxiously turned to the younger man immediately, who simply let out an exasperated sigh.  
  
"He's just being moody. Leave him alone for a while and he'll be okay," Momiji stated with a playful smile, as he reached out and caught her hands in his, "Well, it's his loss for leaving. It just gives me more time to have you for myself."  
  
"Haaaa, Momiji-kun! That was amazing!" Her eyes widened in admiration, "That was really smooth."   
  
"EEEEH!? What's that supposed to mean?" Momiji clutched his chest in mock pain as if she stabbed him right at the heart   
  
"I'm sorry," She burst out laughing again, "It just that, it feels strange to see Momiji-kun act so grown-up. The change just caught me off-guard."  
  
"Well... we all have to grow up sometime. But still, some of use didn't change that much. To-ru is exactly how she was ten years ago." Momiji replied, dropping into a more serious tone, "Only more beautiful than I remember."  
  
She felt the smile on her face start to falter after his hearing his words. Her heart throbbed painfully in her chest as that illogical part of her self started to laugh sarcastically in her head. She wanted to deny it out loud. To scream...   
  
/No, Momiji-kun, you're wrong./  
  
"Hmmm..." She forced her lips into a coy smile  
  
/That girl has gone a long time ago.../  
  
"If Momiji-kun continues to speak in that way..." She leaned forward, just close enough to make him conscious of his personal space   
  
/...way back at that time when she agreed to that contract.../  
  
"...I might just start to fall in love with you."  
  
/...and sold her soul to the devil./  
  
The blonde young man blinked back at her in stunned astonishment, and immediately let out an embarrassed cough in an effort to hide his attempt in increasing the distance between them. Of course, not before turning several shades deeper than a ripe tomato. "Aaah, I give up. There's no way I can seriously beat a counter like that."  
  
She let out a hearty laugh accepting the young man's haughty retreat, "So what happened to everyone since?"  
  
"Shi-chan got dragged by his manager to some week-long convention earlier this week," Momiji began with an amused laugh, "He calls now and then to check on things, but mainly just to   
whine on how boring the convention is and how unfair life is to him in general. He's supposed to come back tomorrow. He will be thrilled to see you... you will be staying a while to see everyone, won't you To-ru?"  
  
She chewed on her lower lip nervously, seeing the young man's hopeful expression, "I suppose... we'll see. I'll try to see if I can make arrangements with the hotel and..."  
  
"Hotel!?" Momiji exclaimed in horror, "Nonsense! Why waste a perfectly good night staying in a hotel when you can stay here and spend time with us? Shi-chan kept To-ru's room exactly as how she left it. You can stay in your old room, just like old times. You   
will spend the night here with us, won't you To-ru?"  
  
"But Uo-chan and Hana-chan..."  
  
"And Haru is coming over tomorrow as well. I suppose Harii is coming with him to check on Yuki, too. And since Shi-chan is coming back tomorrow, Aya is sure to come over as well. They'll all be hysterical with tears when they see you again... well, maybe not Harii..."  
  
"Momiji-kun..."   
  
"I can round out Kisa and Hiro, and I'll call Gura-nee tonight... she knows how to track down Kyo and drag him back here kicking and screaming if she has to. Everyone will be so happy to   
see you well. So you will stay, at least long enough to meet everybody again, won't you, To-ru? Won't you?"  
  
"Haaa..." Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead before letting out a defeated sigh.   
  
This was one battle she knew that she would inevitably loose, anyway. If his persistence can't persuade you, it was simply a matter of time before it tires you down into helpless submission,   
"Momiji-kun... eto... I don't think there's a need to make a big deal out of this and bother everyone..."  
  
"Sie haben sich geirrt!!" Momiji's voice boomed, that she literally jumped back at the intensity of his emotions, "To-ru, it is a big deal! You accept a scholarship to a school in overseas 10 years ago, then five years later that happened..."   
  
She could only watch him silently as his face fell, his expression looking almost like the child she remembered as his voice slowly faltered into a whisper... "The last letter... you said... that you accepted that foreigner's marriage proposal, the next thing we hear, the plane that you and your fiancé were supposed to be in..."   
  
She closed her eyes, letting the grief she knew everyone felt... letting her guilt for allowing it to happen, wash over her, relishing the young man's silence as she waited for that inevitable question, she knew that he will ask.  
  
"Why? Why To-ru? Why didn't you let us know that you were still alive?"  
  
She clasped her hands together as if to pray, before tiredly resting her forehead, her voice was a hoarse whisper, "I'm sorry, Momiji-kun. You don't know how much I am."   
  
  
/"Do you think you're making things better by staying around them?"/  
  
  
"I was ill at the time, and I couldn't travel with him so he went without me."  
  
  
/"Do you really think that you can help them?"/  
  
  
"I was selfish... I was grieving... I tried to bury everything with work."  
  
  
/"You're just giving them false hope."/  
  
  
"I forced Hana-chan and Uo-chan not to let anybody else know..."  
  
  
/The longer you stay with them..."  
  
  
"And.. there were...other many various things involved... that I can't talk about."  
  
  
/"...the more they will be attached to you..."/  
  
  
"What I did was unforgivable..."   
  
  
/"...inevitably, at the end, the more you will end up hurting them."/  
  
  
"That's why... that's why I think you shouldn't make a big deal out of this."  
  
The silence that hung on the air was so thick, that she literally felt like she was going to choke and drown in it. She unclasped her hands and covered her face, to catch and hide the   
tears that once again threatened to spill from her eyes.  
  
"Did you know..." Momiji began softly, breaking the deafening silence, "...how Yuki felt about you?"  
  
"Momiji-kun... don't..." She begged  
  
"When you left... and when that letter arrived announcing that you were getting married... everyone felt so sad and so angry. It felt like you were being stolen away from us. But Yuki... Yuki kept on smiling... and laughing... acting like nothing was wrong. I was so angry with him for doing that. Then he scolded me. He said that we should think of what's most important. And what was most important is that To-ru is happy. And To-ru wouldn't want us to feel   
that way because of her."  
  
"Momiji-kun, please..."  
  
"When everyone thought that you died, Yuki carried on that way... smiling and laughing because that was what To-ru would have wanted. None of us realized how hard it was for him, until he started to become physically ill. But still, he kept on trying until his body refused to obey his will. I remember how he would literally force himself to eat only to have his body reject all his efforts."   
  
"But now, looking back at all that's happened... I think I understand it now," Momiji paused, letting a sad smile to touch his lips as his mind's eye visited that memory, "I think that Yuki believed that all he had left of To-ru were his memories of her. He was constantly afraid of falling into despair and having that taken away from him that he basically fulfilled his own prophecy."  
  
"Yuki was dying. So to save him, Akito ordered the inevitable."  
  
"Akito-san ordered Hatori-san to erase Yuki-kun's memories of me," She stated the obvious blandly  
  
"Yes, but..." Momiji nodded, once again smiling that sad smile, "But Yuki was able to do the unthinkable. He resisted. Harii tried and tried, but Yuki's will was stronger and resisted. Yuki would rather endure all this pain and suffering rather than loose his memories of you. But that also meant that we would be forced to watch him waste away. We couldn't let it happen. That's why... that's why..." The young man paused as his voice started to fail him.  
  
"Oh no," Her eyes widened in horror, the tears she was holding back trickling generously down her face, "Oh God, no..."  
  
"That's why... Harii erased all his memories."   
  
  
  
~To be concluded on Part 3: Found~  
  
  
Author's squawk:  
  
Two down, one to go. This fic idea is really bad for my sleep. This chapter kinda dragged on longer than I expected. But I hope it wasn't boring. ^_^. I just had to put that thing with Momiji! But hey, won't Momiji and Tooru make an interesting couple, too? Haaaah... if I wasn't fixated with Yuki and Tooru, it would be interesting to develop that.   
  
Anywayz, thanks for everyone who gave feedback on part 1. I'm really enjoying writing this, so I hope you guys feel the same way. ^_^. Now if only a certain person, whose name shall remain unmentioned, who wrote certain exceptional fics about a certain FURUBA trio camping out in the mountains... or the trio dealing with a consequences following a valentines day letter... and yes! The consequences of being discovered by a fashion magazine... would also get inspired and write more of them certain fics... ^_^.  
  
Ja!  
Ina-chan 


	3. Part 3:...Found

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs to Takaya Natsuki-sensei and Hana to Yume comics. This fic is done only for the glorification of Furuba!  
  
July 27, 2002  
Wandering  
Part 3: ...Found  
By Ina-chan  
  
  
The curtains danced gently in time with the evening's cool breath. She turned under her blankets restlessly for the umpteenth time and sighed in the futility of her battle against sleeplessness. So she simply contented herself with admiring the paleness of the new moon as its light filtered right through the glass of her window.   
  
It felt surreal. She never thought that she would be able to watch the moon through that window, from this room, on her bed like this again. It was almost like she was dreaming herself in a bad fairytale. Then again, that was what her life had always been when she was with the Soumas. A fairytale...  
  
She rubbed her eyes and couldn't help but wince in pain. Her eyelids felt swollen and heavy. Her eyes probably looked worse than how it felt. She never felt so emotionally drained in her entire life. Yet still, Momiji's earlier words burned in her mind, keeping her awake despite the protests of her tired body.  
  
/"That was three years ago. Shortly after that, Akito died. We expected it for the longest time... But him dying shortly after that happened caught everyone off guard. He seemed to be well at the time. I personally think... I think he just gave up. I think he finally accepted it as a fact. No matter what he does, he can't win over you."/  
  
So in the end, she "won"... but at what price? She tried to burrow deeper under her covers to take shelter from another wave of self-pity that has been threatening to drown her. So many people suffered because of her selfishness. People she cared deeply about...  
  
/"To tell you the truth, it was actually a blessing in disguise. With one tragedy after another, everyone ended up concentrating on helping Yuki. It's still hard to believe that in only been three years. Still, Yuki was able to re-learn to walk... to talk... to function in a level that you won't even believe that he was literally a vegetable once. Or that he was seriously ill and bed-ridden for almost a year before that."/  
  
No... it wasn't her who "won". It was him who was right all along. The longer she clung to her selfishness, the more damage she caused. The more she hurt all of them. Yuki didn't deserve to suffer like he did. And yet he did, they all did. All because of her... because she let all of them get too attached to her. Looking at what happened as a blessing is blindness. What she did was simply give Yuki... and the rest of the Soumas... another kind of curse.  
  
/"Well... truthfully? Yes... Harii doesn't think that Yuki will ever be exactly like he was before. No one ever had his or her memories completely erased. So we don't really know what to expect./  
  
She blew another breath of frustration as she struggled out of her cocoon. Like the rest of her life, her first night home was not going well. Late in the evening, Momiji received a frantic emergency telephone call. He was posed to call Haru to replace him, but she couldn't allow Haru to be bothered with that when she was completely capable of doing the task herself.  
  
She could have sworn she saw a triumphant look quickly flash on Momiji's face when she said that. Though she did catch what Momiji meant when he gave her a knowing wink as he wished her luck before he left. Her ears were still burning in embarrassment from the memory.  
  
Not that she expected anything to happen. She found the other occupant of house curled up in bed and dead to the world since that afternoon. It seemed, even at an subconscious level, that Yuki was avoiding her. Then again, what did she expect? At least to him, she was a stranger anyway.   
  
With another sigh, she pulled herself out of bed and trudged out of her room. Perhaps some warm tea would help soothe her frayed nerves. As she stepped out into the hallway... she stopped by her doorway in surprise. The doorway to the bedroom that her housemate occupied was wide open. With her pulse pounding loudly in her ears, she quickly made her way across the hall and prodded to the open door only to find the formerly occupied bed empty! Without another thought, she dashed her way through the corridors as fast as her feet can carry her.  
  
/"Since moving back in Shi-chan's house, he's seemed more relaxed and less restless... but Yuki still has 'episodes' when he suddenly gets completely confused and disoriented. Once, he accidentally almost set the kitchen on fire. Last winter, he managed to wander out of the house in the middle of the night, in just his bedclothes and bare-foot. I don't think we can ever trust him to be on his own. Shi-chan is usually around most of the week. We help out by taking turns spending time with him if Shi-chan has something else to do to make sure he's never alone."/  
  
"Yuki-kun?" Her frightened voice echoed within the house's empty walls. She poked her head hopefully in the common room, "Yuki-kun, are you here?" She felt her blood turn cold as her eyes spied the sliding door open halfway. She slid the door open all the way and quickly scanned the darkened yard, "YUKI-KUN WHERE ARE YOU!?"  
  
"I'm right here," A voice answered from the direction of the washroom behind her  
  
She hastily spun around to face him, and to add to all the misfortunes that happened to her throughout the day, felt her foot slip from the edge of the elevated wooden floor. The next thing she knew, she was once again sprawled on the ground, stunned, the wind knocked out of her.   
  
"Are you alright?" His voice spoke from over her head, full of concern   
  
In spite of everything, he immediately rushes to her side. She didn't trust herself to look up, fearing that her eyes would find themselves welling up in tears again, "I'm fine." She simply answered quietly. She struggled to get back on her feet only to fall back as a sharp pain ran up from her left ankle.   
  
Without another word, she felt his arms take her by the shoulders and support her gently to her feet. Head bowed, eyes staring listlessly on their bare feet, she put her arm around him and leaned her weight as close as both of them dare. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to breathe in the air that surrounded him as he helped her hobble back in the house. Though her mind knew differently, it still felt the same. His scent... the warmth of his body... how just being near him like this would cause her to feel overly conscious that he would also hear loud, quickening pace of her heart.  
  
She felt disappointment welling up inside her when he deposited her on the floor wordlessly before disappearing to the kitchen. Only to have her heart beating wildly again as he returned with an icepack and knelt opposite her. He elevated her injured foot by resting it on his lap and he applied the ice on her slightly swelling ankle. They stayed like that for a while, relishing the comfortable silence between them.  
  
"I don't think its bad..." he spoke so suddenly that she almost literally jumped out of her skin, "...but I think you should still let Hatori take a look at it in the morning."  
  
"Un..." She could only agree dumbly, once again letting the silence between them linger until she couldn't stand it much longer, "I'm sorry."  
  
"Accidents happen," he replied  
  
"I wasn't talking about that," she whispered almost inaudibly  
  
"Aa..." It was his turn to give a guttural reply with a long pause, "I was rude to you earlier, so we can call it even."  
  
She automatically looked at him to check if he was joking, only to see the solemn expression on the face looking back at her. She struggled to hold back her laughter, but the urge to do it was just too strong that it managed to pass through her nose as a loud, unladylike snort. Yuki's laughter, which immediately followed, allowed her to release her own barrier. The situation was just totally absurd, but she was thankful. At least, now, the ice between them had broken.  
  
"What brought you back to Japan?" He spoke politely, and she was grateful for that as well. She knew what he really wanted to ask was what brought her back from the dead. The truth of the matter is... she didn't really know.  
  
"Work," It was the relative truth anyway. She was the perfect representative for closing a deal with a big Japanese client. That is, ignoring the fact that her boss threatened to fire her if she didn't take a well deserved vacation after this particular transaction. 'Take a break from all this insanity,' Her boss instructed her, it's the perfect opportunity to return home, to see her family whom she hasn't seen in a decade.   
  
But after her grandfather died, she didn't really have anyone left in Japan whom she considered as "family"... except for Hana-chan and Uo-chan... and "Them". Of course, at that time, going back to the Soumas was out of the question. But still... still... she wanted to at least have a brief glimpse of them... have a brief glimpse of him.  
  
"How about you?" She began cautiously, "How have you been?"  
  
"I guess I've been doing okay," He replied with a shy smile, "Though everyone comments that I'm doing much better, I don't really have much of a basis for comparison."  
  
"What is it like?" The words flew from her lips before she could stop them, "I mean... if you don't mind me asking... that is. I'm sorry. That was rude, I shouldn't have asked that."  
  
"It's alright," He gave her a reassuring shake of the head, "It's like waking up suddenly from the middle of a forgotten dream while sleepwalking. Then realizing that you lost all sense of direction or comprehension," he quickly added seeing the look of horror starting to envelop her features, "But it's more frustrating than frightening. Specially with the part on needing to depend on other people for many things. It does feel a little strange seeing pictures of me that I can't recognize or hearing things about me from other people," He continued with a small laugh, "Overall, they've been openly helpful with a lot of my questions... and tight-lipped about others."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"Akito, for example," He said with a shrug, "I remember attending the ceremony when he died. But that's all I can remember about him. Everyone was reluctant to tell me anything else."  
  
She couldn't help but shiver at the mention of the former Family Head's name. But at the same time, she found it hard to believe that this same person spoke of the former Head of their family with such nonchalant casualness was the same person she remembered who struggled with his emotions just at the mention of that name. Perhaps it really was a blessing in disguise.  
  
"But, if there's one thing I learned from all of this," He continued, "Is that it's useless pondering and crying over what's already done. I know if I persist on searching, I'll find the answers to all my questions... eventually."  
  
"What if you never find what you're looking for?" She asked as she reclaimed her foot from his grasp  
  
"That only means that I still need to search some more," was his simple reply  
  
"But WHAT IF you never find it?" she asked more insistently, as she wrapped her arms around her knees  
  
He watched her for a moment before bending one leg and mirroring her gesture, "Haru told me once that there was someone we cared about who used to live by this phrase, so its only appropriate for us to follow it as well," He rested his chin on his knee, and slightly cocked his head to the side, while giving her a small child-like smile.  
  
"Never give up."  
  
With those words said, and for the hundredth time since the afternoon, she let her tears flow freely from her eyes. She threw herself prone on his feet, sobbing uncontrollably., "I'm so sorry Yuki-kun. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."  
  
She felt his hands again, gently pulling her up to face him. Because she refused to meet his eyes, he lightly lifted her chin, "Don't be," he said giving her another comforting smile, "Because I know I'm not." She closed her eyes as she felt his fingers tenderly tracing off the tears trailing down her face. "Back then, it was something I believed that was worth dying for," he whispered as he rested his forehead on hers, "I don't need to remember everything for me to know for sure that it must have been something truly..." His voice trailed, struggling as he searched for the right word to describe his thoughts, "...wonderful."  
  
She clutched his hands in hers and brought it to her lips, still crying silently as she finally realized what Momiji meant. The Yuki before her may not be the same Yuki she remembered in the past. But it was still Yuki nonetheless...   
  
...her sweet, kind and gentle Yuki...   
  
...without the painful past...   
  
...without Akito.   
  
It truly was a blessing...  
  
...a second chance.  
  
"Honda-san."   
  
Her eyes widened and savored the warmth spreading inside of her from hearing him utter her name again for the first time. She slowly lifted her eyes to face his hopeful expression, "Yes?"  
  
"May I ask a favour from you?"  
  
"Yes, Yuki-kun. I'll do anything you ask me to."  
  
"I still can't... read too well...yet," He stated, looking a little embarrassed  
  
"Yes?" She frowned, not really understanding where he was getting at.  
  
"Well... everyone has been telling me stories about you for as long as I could remember, but I always had this feeling that they weren't telling me everything. Then when I moved here..." He paused, and she could almost swear that a little flush was forming on his face, "...there were these old letters from you in my old room..."  
  
"Y-yes..." She felt an identical flush rising on her own cheeks. She remembered her own precious bundle of letters that she kept secretly. She treasured them, with great guilt, even back during that time when she was supposed to marry someone else.   
  
"Haru and Shigure offered to read them to me... but I didn't let them," He added quickly, seeing another mortified expression appearing in her eyes, "They were your private thoughts... after all."  
  
"Haaaa..." She stared at the pair of hands still clasped in hers, now resting on her lap, suddenly feeling shy   
  
"I want to know you. I want to know everything about you again," He spoke with such conviction that it forced her to raise her eyes to meet his. "Will you..." He continued, "... will you let me?"  
  
That frightened illogical part of herself nudged her from the back of her mind. Though any threat from Akito is gone now... there are many other obstacles and complications lined upon this road before her. Her life with the Soumas felt like a surreal fairytale back then. Is she really willing to face the risk and enter that fairytale world again? And this fairytale had no guarantees on a happy ending. Just as it happened ten years ago, reality could still come crashing down painfully. And who knows how bad the casualties will be the second time around. Is she really willing to take that risk?  
  
However...  
  
Sitting there, and staring into the intense gray eyes of the man who was willing to sacrifice his very life just to cling on the mere memories of that fairytale... she already knew the answer to that question...  
  
Shifting her injured leg into a more comfortable position, she scooted around so that she would be sitting beside him, still holding on to one hand, intertwining her fingers with his, "Once upon a time... there was a young girl who just lost her mother."  
  
...though there are no guarantees that the ending to this fairytale would be a happy one. There are no guarantees that this fairytale will even end at all.   
  
"For reasons beyond her control, she decided to live in a tent."   
  
...She realized just now that the reason why she failed the first time around. It was because she faltered in believing in the strength that she didn't realize she had in the past. That same naïve faith and strength now reflected back to her, by the man sitting beside her.  
  
"It was one fateful morning, on her way to school, she met her high school prince..."  
  
Never give up!  
  
  
~OWARI~   
  
Author's squawk:  
  
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! DEKITA! I never thought I'd finish this though. When I was typing it out last night, the lack of sleep from the nights before finally caught up with me and I actually ended up falling asleep in the middle of the story!  
  
Then when I was typing it up this morning, my loving family reminded me of a picnic that we were supposed to attend today! We had to leave when I was just 1 page length away from the ending! AAAAARGH!   
  
But now its finished! And I'm so happy! This is actually the first FURUBA fic I wrote that made me happy with just the first draft! Yes, you are reading the first draft of this entire fic series. I probably had a couple of spelling and grammar errors in all of them, but I don't really care. ^_^. I'm still feeling kinda warm and fuzzy. ^_^.  
  
Ja!  
Ina-chan 


End file.
